Yesterday I went to the range to meet a friend who is a revolver shooter but only contemporary (20th & 21st Century) revolvers. He said he had read about the famous Southwestern lawman Jeff Milton carrying a belt gun and a cut down 45 in a shoulder holster under his shirt or vest. So, I brought along my 4-3/4" USFA single action and a 3" Sheriff's Model by the same maker for him to try out with black powder cartridges.
The ammunition was my hand loaded duplication of factory 45 Colt ammunition, in terms of ballistic performance. It has a 253g RNFP bullet cast from 1-20 alloy, as the originals were, over a charge of ~36g of FFFg black powder in modern Star-Line brass. This is to get the same performance as the original 40g charge in balloon head cases as loaded buy UMC and later Remington and was rated at 910 fps from a 7-1/2" "cavalry pistol". I've chronographed this hand load from a 7-1/2" barrel at 907 fps to 914 fps at different times. In the 4-3/4" it does about 860 fps and from the 3" 795 fps.
He shot the 4-3/4" "belt gun" first, one handed at my suggestion, and was surprised at the recoil and annoyed by the smoke, but pleased with the resounding clang the slug made when it hit the steel targets. When it came to the 3" his first comment was that it kicked more than the longer barreled gun. We discussed that this was largely due to the lighter weight from the reduced barrel length and the absence of and ejector rod and housing.
Not surprisingly he asked a number of questions about cleaning but my description of my simple soap and water cleaning method turned him off. Some what jokingly he said if he wanted that kind of abuse he would just shoot his 44 Magnum with two hands and it would be easier to clean up.
For sure I didn't make a convert but as I have done a number of times in the last year or so, another shooter was introduced to what it was like to shoot a single action with factory ammo in the 1880s. I've also done similar outings with my 1873 Winchester in 44 WCF loaded with black powder which everyone likes, but the most fun is introducing someone to the 1874 Sharps Business Rifle chambered in 50-90 Sharps Straight. They all complain about the recoil but it still puts a smile on their face.
Dave
The ammunition was my hand loaded duplication of factory 45 Colt ammunition, in terms of ballistic performance. It has a 253g RNFP bullet cast from 1-20 alloy, as the originals were, over a charge of ~36g of FFFg black powder in modern Star-Line brass. This is to get the same performance as the original 40g charge in balloon head cases as loaded buy UMC and later Remington and was rated at 910 fps from a 7-1/2" "cavalry pistol". I've chronographed this hand load from a 7-1/2" barrel at 907 fps to 914 fps at different times. In the 4-3/4" it does about 860 fps and from the 3" 795 fps.
He shot the 4-3/4" "belt gun" first, one handed at my suggestion, and was surprised at the recoil and annoyed by the smoke, but pleased with the resounding clang the slug made when it hit the steel targets. When it came to the 3" his first comment was that it kicked more than the longer barreled gun. We discussed that this was largely due to the lighter weight from the reduced barrel length and the absence of and ejector rod and housing.
Not surprisingly he asked a number of questions about cleaning but my description of my simple soap and water cleaning method turned him off. Some what jokingly he said if he wanted that kind of abuse he would just shoot his 44 Magnum with two hands and it would be easier to clean up.
For sure I didn't make a convert but as I have done a number of times in the last year or so, another shooter was introduced to what it was like to shoot a single action with factory ammo in the 1880s. I've also done similar outings with my 1873 Winchester in 44 WCF loaded with black powder which everyone likes, but the most fun is introducing someone to the 1874 Sharps Business Rifle chambered in 50-90 Sharps Straight. They all complain about the recoil but it still puts a smile on their face.
Dave
